Right Where You Belong
by WastedOnMyself
Summary: Slight AU. Lexie and Molly's mom dies while they're still kids. Thatcher falls off the wagon and they're about to be placed into foster care unless a certain sister agrees to take them in. Is Meredith ready to assume such a responsibility?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I don't usually write fanfiction so excuse me if something doesn't quite make sense. I've had this idea for a while and I noticed no one had written anything similar so I decided to give it a shot. Also, if anyone's interested in adopting this story I'd be completely willing to give it away as I don't really have time to write.**

 **Anyways, here's a little backstory:**

 **Ellis got Alzheimer's while Meredith was still in college so she decided to stay home and go to med school instead of traveling around Europe, therefore she started her internship when she was around 24 (let's say she skipped third grade like Lexie). Derek had just finalized his divorce and they had just gotten back together. This takes place during Meredith's intern year. I know Lexie and Molly aren't this much younger than Meredith but they are for this story's purposes.**

 **Meredith: 24**

 **Lexie: 14**

 **Molly: 11**

 **Enjoy!**

Meredith was leisurely walking around the halls of SGH on an early Monday morning before her shift started. She finally felt like things were starting to work out. She and Derek were back together and everything was going well.

She felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket so she pulled it out and answered.

"Hello"

"Hello, is this Meredith Grey?" said a serious female voice on the other side.

"Yes, this is she." Meredith replied in a confused tone.

"Good morning, miss Grey. This is Linda Smith from Child Protective Services, I was wondering if I could pay you a visit later today. There's something really important I need to talk to you about."

"To me? Child Protective Services needs to talk to me?"

"Like I told you, Miss Grey, this is an important issue, it's about your sisters." The lady was starting to become more and more aggravated.

"My sisters? Lexie and Molly right? I've never even met them. Why would you need to talk to me about them?" By now Meredith was completely baffled at what was happening.

"You know what? I'll just stop by later today and we'll talk about this personally."

"Uh... okay, then. Just have the receptionist page me when you're here." Meredith gave in so she could just talk to this person and get over whatever this was.

"I will. Thank you Miss Grey."

"Yeah, no problem."

Meredith tried to blow this off and get on with her day like nothing happened, however, less than three hours later, she was being paged to the lobby to meet this lady she knew nothing about.

As she made her way into the crowded waiting area, she could make out a slender dark haired woman sitting in the back of the room looking somewhat impatient, so she walked towards her.

"Hi, I'm Meredith, you must be Linda." She said as she reached out her hand.

Linda politely shook it. "I am. Listen, I'm really sorry to bother you. Maybe we should have this conversation somewhere private."

Meredith was actually starting to worry now but she made sure not to show her concern.

"Sure, follow me." She said as she led Linda to the closest conference room.

The two of them walked in and sat down across from each other at the table situated in the middle of the room.

Meredith didn't give Linda a chance to talk before the words practically flew out of her mouth. "Okay, I've been thinking about this all morning and I'm really starting to freak out so please just cut to the chase and tell me what's going on."

Linda seemed to study Meredith's face before she finally said what she'd been waiting to say all morning. "Your sisters' mother died of a complication during a stomach surgery four weeks ago. Your father maintained full custody and things seemed to be going fine until two weeks ago, when we started getting calls from the neighbors saying how worried they were about Thatcher's mental health and the girls' safety. We checked in with them and it took a while but we finally got the older one, Alexandra, to tell us what had been happening. Your father is... was a recovering alcoholic and after Susan's death he turned to alcohol and became very violent towards his daughters. Alexandra claimed these things had happened before but they stopped when he stopped drinking years ago. Now that he's drinking again, she said he's constantly yelling, breaking things, threatening to beat them up and he even went as far as slapping her once, apparently out of the blue. As you may imagine, both girls are absolutey terrified of him. They're currently in our care but the thing here is, aside from you, they have no other family. We didn't even know they had an older sister until Lexie told us about you. Meredith, I know this is a huge responsibility to assume but if you don't take them in, they'll be put in foster care and we both know they don't deserve that after all they've been through."

Meredith stared at her for what seemed like hours as she tried to take everything in.

"You don't get it though, I'm not they're family. I didn't even know I had any sisters until a few months ago when I called Thatcher to reconnect and let's just say that didn't go as planned. Look, I feel terrible for them, I really do, but there must be some other way. I can't take them, I'm not stable enough to raise two kids on my own, I can barely provide for myself! How old are they, by the way?"

"Alexandra just turned 14 a couple weeks ago and Molly is 11. Meredith, there really is no one else they can go to. Trust me, we've done our research. Susan had no siblings and as you may know, Thatcher's only brother died a few years ago in a car accident. Now, I know you think you're not they're family because you've never met and I know you and your father have been estranged for years, but you don't know how much those girls already idolize you. Molly kept going on and on about her cool big sister and Lexie says she wants to be a doctor just like you. We talked to her to explain what would happen and she begged us not to send them to foster care and to call you first. They want to be with you. They have faith in you. You're already they're hero, Meredith. Don't let them down." This woman really knew how to get her way, Meredith could tell she was trying to use guilt to persuade her. Still, she couldn't help but feel compelled to do something.

"Ok, I really need some time to process all of this. Can I just think about it for a while? I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Of course, take your time." Linda had gone back to her serious, professional facade.

"They're okay, though. Right? You're taking care of them?" She couldn't hide her anxiety any longer.

"We are, don't worry about them. They're strong girls."

"Ok, that's good." Meredith was starting to get fidgety, so she was glad to see Linda get up and offer the young doctor her hand. Meredith shook it and they said their goodbyes.

Hours later, Meredith and Derek were sitting on a bed in an on call room, as she tried to figure out how to explain to him what would be happening. She really needed him to be on board with all of this. She knew she couldn't do it alone.

"Hey Derek?" He moved closer to her and put a hand on her back, sensing her worry.

"Yes?"

"Remember I told you I had two little sisters I've never met?" And she proceeded to tell him everything that was going on. "Derek, I just don't know what to do. It's true, I don't know them, but I'm their big sister. I don't owe my dad anything but he's still my father, which makes them my family and I owe it to them to be the kind of sister they think I am. I can't just let them get sent to a foster home. You know what happens to foster kids. I can't let that happen to them..." She was getting more and more worked up until he finally silenced her.

"Meredith, stop. I get it. I know it sucks, I know they don't deserve this. I know you don't deserve this, your life is just beginning, you shouldn't have to worry about raising your father's kids because he's not competent enough to do it on his own. It sucks. But this is the way things are... And we'll get through it." At this, Meredith instantly looked up, eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, what? We?"

"I'm not running this time. I regret ever leaving you for Addison and I'm not about to do it again. You're going to call that social worker and tomorrow morning we're going to go get those kids and we'll give them all the love they deserve. We'll raise them like they were our own. At least I know I will, and you have the biggest heart, Meredith. You'll be a great sister AND mom to them. I know we're nowhere near ready to start a family but I believe in us. We love each other and that will be enough. We'll make it though this. We always do." Derek finished, wiping the tears that had slowly started to run down her face.

"I love you, Derek. Thank you so much for doing this. So, does this mean you're moving in with me? Oh my god, where will they sleep? We need to get everything ready for them. There's an extra guest room in my house that they can share until I manage to kick everyone else out. What about clothes? Should we go shopping for them?" Derek put a finger on her lips, quieting her again.

"Meredith, one step at a time."

"Right, I'll go call Linda."

The next morning, the both of them were waiting anxiously in Meredith's living room. They had talked to the chief and managed to get the day off. Now the girls could be here at any second. After waiting for a few minutes they finally heard the doorbell ring.

"Oh my god, Derek." Meredith exclaimed, a mix of nervousness and excitement in her voice, as they got up. Derek took her hand as they made their way to the door.

"Calm down, it'll be fine. I'm here." He kissed her forehead and opened the door to reveal their guests.

Before them stood Linda with two young girls hiding behind her, a trace of fear in their eyes.

"Hello Meredith" Linda said and turned her head to Derek. "You must be Derek, nice to meet you."

Derek shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, too." He tried to sound as friendly as possible as he turned to the little girls. "Hey guys, come on in!"

Meredith looked at Linda as if asking for pemission, before earning a nod from her. She then stepped closer to the girls, glancing at the taller one. "Hello, I'm Meredith, I'm guessing you're Alexandra?".

The brown haired girl looked timidly at her and nodded. "Just Lexie" she said in barely a whisper.

Meredith smiled back at her. "Okay then." She now turned to the younger one with blonde hair and blue eyes. She could really see a lot more of herself in this one. "Hey sweetie, are you Molly?" The little girl didn't even bother to look up. She simply nodded.

Both girls seemed to be terrified, and Meredith completey understood, she couldn't even begin to imagine what they must feel like right now. So she simply did what her guts told her. She walked forward and wrapped the two girls in a big hug. She could instantly feel how they loosened up against her embrace. She knew how important this moment was for the three of them so she whispered in their ear, making sure no one else could hear her. "I know you guys have been through a lot in the past few weeks, but you're safe now. I'm your big sister and I promise you right now I will never let anyone hurt you, okay?" They both nodded and she moved away and wiped the tears that seemed to be relentlessly streaming down both of the young girls' faces before Molly pouted. "You're crying too" she pointed out.

Meredith just smiled at them. "You're right, I am" she chuckled. "I just can't believe I get to have such amazing little girls as my sisters!"

"I guess you're not so bad yourself." Lexie joked, earning a smirk from Meredith, who was secretly happy to see them slowly come out of their shell.

They said goodbye to Linda and the four of them spent a long afternoon talking, laughing, cuddling and becoming the family they slowly realized they were meant to be.


	2. Update

Hey guys! I'd like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing this story. Like I said before, I can't continue it myself, however **becr26** u/5441302/ was nice enough to adopt it! Just wanted to let you know. I can't wait to see how it turns out!


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